HARTFORD — Marc H. Silverman, acting United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Michael J. Krol, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New England, on April 21 announced that a federal grand jury in Hartford has returned a four-count indictment charging Donald S. Hammalian Jr, 50, last residing in Newtown, with child exploitation offenses.

The indictment was returned on April 10, and Hammalian appeared before US District Judge Robert A. Richardson in Hartford and pleaded not guilty to the charges. He has been detained on a violation of supervised release since November 16, 2023.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, in January 2010, Hammalian was sentenced in the Middle District of Florida to 48 months of imprisonment and 20 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography. In 2015, Hammalian’s supervision was transferred to the District of Vermont, where he moved after his release from prison.

In June 2018, Hammalian pleaded guilty to violating his supervised release by again possessing child pornography and was sentenced to 72 months of imprisonment and 20 years of supervised release. In May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a federal judge in Vermont reduced Hammalian’s sentence to time served and Hammalian was released from prison.

It is alleged that on November 13, 2023, the US Probation Office searched Hammalian’s residence and found five unapproved internet capable devices, including three smartphones and two tablets, two of which contained child sex abuse material. The investigation revealed Hammalian was managing about a dozen social media accounts and had more than 100,000 followers, and he was using the accounts to communicate with minors, sometimes posing as a 16-year-old boy.

The indictment alleges that between July 2022 and November 2023, Hammalian received child pornography. The indictment further alleges that between July 2022 and February 2023, Hammalian enticed a minor to send him child pornography, that he transferred obscene material to a minor, and that he committed these offenses while a registered sex offender.

The indictment charges Hammalian with receipt of child pornography, which, based on Hammalian’s criminal history, carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years; coercion and enticement of a minor, which carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life; transfer of obscene material to a minor, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years; and commission of a felony offense involving a minor by a registered sex offending, which carries a mandatory consecutive term of imprisonment of 10 years.

Hammalian faces additional penalties if he is found to have violated the conditions of his supervised release.

Acting US Attorney Silverman stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This investigation is being conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Angel M. Krull and Nancy V. Gifford through the US Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, visit cybertipline.com.